Questions and Answers

Is it Safe to Attend?

We appreciate many of our patients have been very cautious and taken great care to avoid contracting the virus and resuming some elements of life after lockdown can be very daunting as there is a risk of exposure when you leave home. Dental practices are and have always been a very clean environment. We have strict cross infection measures in place routinely and are experts in this. Our team are highly trained and audited and have undertaken further training specific to COVID-19 for which we are taking additional measures.

What additional Measures are being taken?

We have considered each element of our patient journey in detail with a thorough risk assessment and put additional measures in place, following the best practice of national professional guidelines. 

On top of the routine strict cleaning of surfaces and instruments which we  do after each and every patient and familiar use of PPE, we have:

• Additional cleaning including cleaning waiting room chairs after every patient use and regular cleaning of public areas including bannisters, door handles and reception desk.
• Social distancing measures in place (these have worked really well, with measures such as patients waiting in our large car-park and  paperwork done online where possible, we have very few patients passing each other in the clinic).
• All patients and staff are asked to wear a mask outside the surgery room
• Toilets use is restricted and by request in emergencies only to allow cleaning after any use.
• For drilling procedures we use additional PPE and the room is left empty for deep cleaning afterwards.

Please read our patient policy for more information.

What do I need to do, what is different?

We have produced a patient information leaflet to show clearly what to expect when you attend for an appointment. This covers everything from wearing a face covering, to hand sanitising on entering and how we will communicate with you. If you have any questions please telephone our reception team who will be happy to help. 

Should I attend if I am shielding?

We are taking every possible measure to protect all our patients. For those who are most vulnerable we can offer extra steps to help you feel safe. Please contact our reception team to discuss you personal circumstances and needs. We can provide appointments first thing in the morning to minimise contact with other patients. You may wish to wait in the car and simply telephone us when you arrive. Our clinicians can then escort you directly to the surgery. During lockdown where antibiotics are were required, we delivered these to our patients personally.

How has Eynsham Dental Care been able to open so promptly and resume services when other surgeries have long waiting lists?

We worked really hard. 

Firstly, we were part of a group of private practices to lobby for us to be allowed to see our patients with emergencies rather than the imposed triage and referral to state urgent dental centres which was inadequate. Thus we made preparations to ensure we could see patients safely as soon as these  restrictions to patient care were rebuked.  

We worked to source reusable PPE to prevent supply chain issues and put in place procedures to ensure we were ready to safely offer patients care. 

Rather than wait for the very tardy provision of local guidelines, we preempted, adopting gold standards published for use in emergency centres and looking to guidelines from multiple countries abroad, taking the most strict approach. 

We invested in PPE and training including a qualification to fit test our masks, a procedure to fit and test to ensure a tight seal for the masks we now use during drilling.  

We invested in air extraction units to change the air in our surgeries after any drilling procedures. We leave 15minutes after drilling procedures for air extraction and surgery cleaning. To compensate for the additional time this takes we altered our clinician's working hours to make efficient use of our surgery time. 

Thus we have been in a strong and prepared position to resume and continue caring for our patients . 

We run a very personal clinic, where we take care to look after every patient. Without high volumes of people attending our clinic we are able to ensure everyone is looked after properly and promptly. 

Do Denplan patients receive the full benefit of their payment plans?

Denplan works by spreading the cost of your treatment over the course of a year so you will still be able to access all the care you need included in your plan. Our temporary closure represents a minor postponement in treatment for a minority of patients and this is being re-booked promptly.  

As our patient you benefit from being cared for by one of the first clinics in the UK to reopen without the lengthy waiting list that many patients elsewhere are now facing. We did not sit back, but worked hard to be back in action for you as soon as was possible!

During lockdown, we were available for your care within the government restrictions. We provided access to prompt remote emergency advice seven days a week. We had a clinician available to speak to directly for assessment and advice. Where needed, we personally delivered antibiotics.

If a hygienist appointment was postponed, our hygienist provided remote advice and provision of oral health products free of charge, (and on reopening has been providing extended clinics to ensure your appointment is rescheduled as soon as possible). 

As soon as we were able to treat our emergencies rather than refer to the very limited urgent dental hubs, our Denplan patients were able to access this care. For example, one patient had an abscess on an upper front tooth and was in alot of pain not resolved with antibiotics and painkillers. The emergency clinic were unable to provide advanced options and could only offer an extraction whereas we were able to save the tooth by performing a re-root treatment procedure, safely and promptly. The patient in question had underlying health issues making extractions a more risky undertaking for his general health. 

All Denplan patients who contacted us with problems during lockdown have been contacted within the first week of reopening.

In addition to the work we put in place to ensure we were one of the first clinics in the UK to open as soon as allowed, Denplan, as a company have provided training and invested in PPE resources to support their patients and dentists to ensure prompt resumption of safe care. 

Sadly many patients elsewhere across the country now face lengthy delays in accessing dental care. We continue to offer Denplan membership at rates lower than the local average. We are appreciative of the support our patients have given us and hope you can see that your Denplan membership offers excellent value for exemplary care in our hands.

Will I be Charged extra?

No. We are not imposing extra charges for the additional PPE and surgery time required.